After two seasons of negotiations the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL have reached a new transfer agreement.

"This agreement will generate millions of dollars for Swedish hockey," said Peter Forsberg, vice-chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.

Since negotiations between the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL broke down during the summer of 2009, a committee composed of members from the Eliteserien's clubs worked to find solutions to the issues we couldn't agree on. The new contract is essentially based on the draft of the agreement we finalized last summer, which a clear majority of the Eliteserien's clubs endorsed.

"It wasn't the agreement that slowed down negotiations this summer, but
it gives more time to the NHL," said Peter Forsberg, vice-chairman of
the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation. "This agreement will generate millions of dollars for Swedish ice hockey and hopefully contribute to a better working agreement in terms of transferring players between teams."

The agreement is valid for two years, until the 2011-2012 season. The NHL will play $225,000 U.S. for each player that leaves the Eliteserien, which is an increase of $25,000 compared to the previous agreement. The deadline for the transfer of players signed to contracts is June 15th, and, for players who are signed during their NHL Entry Draft year, August 15.

The agreement allows players up to 22 years old, who were drafted in the first round, to play for Swedish clubs if they don't play in the NHL.

"For the Swedish Hockey League, this is an important issue. We care about our players and want to keep them in the Eliteserien for as long as we can. The Eliteserien is a fantastic league to develop in," says Peter Gudmundson, president of the Swedish Hockey League.

There's no clarification as to whether this agreement might be applied retroactively to players drafted when there was no agreement between Sweden and the NHL, but if that's the case, the Red Wings will have to decide whether to sign Jesper Samuelsson this spring, Adam Almqvist next year, and they'll have to decide whether to sign Joakim Andersson or long-shot prospect Anton Axelsson this spring as well.